Tuesday, September 4, 2012

We're Going

This post is called "We're Going" because I was too afraid to go alone. I have a good friend, Sherry Rankins-Robertson, who has actually spent a lot of time in prisons working with inmates on creative writing. Sometime in October she and I will go to this prison for the mentally ill and we will sit across a table from the man who murdered my grandfather.

The visiting room is one in which physical touch is allowed. I'll be able to shake his hand, if I want to.

About This Blog

In the summer of 2007 I decided that I wanted to learn more about my grandfather, a man named Mack “Booker” Wright.My hope was that learning about his life would help me to better understand some things about my family.Through my research I learned that my grandfather appeared in a powerful film about civil rights in 1966, owned his own restaurant called Booker's Place, and that he was one of the most respected black men in Greenwood, MS before his murder in 1973.

In the spring of 2011 I was contacted by a couple of filmmakers who wanted to revisit the 1966 documentary by making one of their own.This blog chronicles the story of how a home school mom went on a simple genealogical journey, made a feature length documentary, and learned some hard truths about herself along the way.

People to Know

Kat, Katherine, or Cassie

My mom and Booker Wright's daughter.

Vera

My aunt and Booker Wright's daughter.

Margurite

Booker's half sister.

Rosie Turner

Booker's mother.

Willie Wright

The man who raised Booker Wright.

Leroy

My dad.

Doris or Grandma Cooley

Booker Wright's wife. They divorced after only a few years of marriage.

M.W.

Booker Wright's companion of approximately 20 years. They were still together when he was murdered.